pavlova Archives - Taste With The Eyes

Kiwi Strawberry Pavlova, Lime Coconut Yogurt Whipped Cream

Kiwi Strawberry Pavlova
Lime Coconut Yogurt Whipped Cream

Oh how I wish I could ask my mother about the history of the beautiful vintage candy dish pedestals that I inherited. I don’t know their age but I vaguely remember them appearing on special occasions in my childhood, piled with individually wrapped little fruit candies…

Enamored of these pedestals, I’ve photographed them with two dessert recipes this week alone. Leaning much more to the savory side, this just might be the first time in ten years for back-to-back sweet recipes on Taste With The Eyes. Both the Pavlova and the Vegan Cheesecakes feature fresh fruit, are gluten-free, and couldn’t be more delightful for summer entertaining.

Pavlova is a charming meringue-based dessert named after prima ballerina Ánna Pávlova. It is typically filled with whipped cream and fresh fruit. I give the whipped cream extra pizzazz by blending the cream with tangy yogurt and flavoring it with coconut and lime. The synergistic colors and flavors of kiwifruit and strawberries result in a dessert almost as captivating as the ballerina herself.

Kiwi Strawberry Pavlova Recipe

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Pavlova – A Light, Elegant, Gluten-Free Dessert

Pavlova with Whipped Yogurt Cream, Kiwi, Passion Fruit, Blackberry, Mint

Pavlova with Whipped Yogurt Cream
Kiwifruit, Passionfruit, Blackberry, Mint

A trio of colorful fresh fruit is ensconced on a pillow of whipped yogurt cream atop a light airy sweet meringue. Beyond its function as a pretty little garnish, mint adds refreshing herbal notes. The eponymous dessert is as elegant and graceful as the Russian ballerina herself.

Pavlova is my favorite dessert to serve at an al fresco luncheon. Filled with irresistible fresh fruits, and whipped cream blended with non-fat Greek yogurt which adds an invigorating tartness while cutting the fat by half. These beauties are perfect for my gluten-free friends, my lower-fat friends, and my fruit-for-dessert friends. The individual meringue shells can be baked into various sizes, from a substantial dessert portion to a mini-portion for those who prefer just a “bite” of something sweet.

Pavlova – A Light, Elegant, Gluten-Free Dessert

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Banana Split Pavlovas

Banana Split Pavlova – A “Sick” Dessert For Both Adults and Kids!

I learned this adjective from my nephews. It now means crazy, cool, insane. OK. This dessert is definitely sick. Our beloved sophisticated pavlova, a refined dessert created to honor prima ballerina Ánna Pávlova, at the turn of the last century has been turned on its graceful ear, so to speak.

Here, our marshmallowy meringue is filled with low-fat vanilla yogurt (for the adults) or ice cream and whipped cream (for the kids). Then it is topped with fresh pineapple and banana, chopped peanuts, a wild drizzle of hot fudge, and studded with (natural, no artificial color) maraschino cherries. For an extra kick, the adults’ cherries get soaked in brandy. It is not the finale for your next elegant dinner party. But it is delightful and playful, a sick dessert with wholesome “banana split” ingredients for adults and kids alike.

Banana Split Pavlovas Recipe

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Mixed Berry Pavlova with Elderflower Lemon Curd Yogurt

PAVLOVA
A Caramelized Meringue Cake with a Crisp Shell and a Marshmallowy Center
Filled with Elderflower Lemon Curd Yogurt
Elderflower Macerated Cherries, Blueberries, Blackberries, Raspberries

This enchanting global dessert ~ named after a RUSSIAN ballerina, created in either NEW ZEALAND or AUSTRALIA (both countries claim it as a national dish), flavored with a FRENCH liqueur (St. Germain Elderflower), filled with GREEK yogurt ~ happens to make a festive red, white, and blue addition to our Independence Day menu, here in the UNITED STATES.

Over the years I have made several pavlovas, cooked in different ovens, at different temperatures from 250° to 300°F. This incarnation was cooked at the higher temperature and resulted in a delightful caramelized meringue with the signature soft marshmallowy center. (I suggest cooking at the lower temperature if you prefer a pale meringue). After it is baked, turn off the oven and slowly cool the meringue with the oven door slightly ajar to achieve the perfect texture and to prevent it from deflating.

Mixed Berry Pavlova with Elderflower Lemon Curd Yogurt Recipe

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A “Down Under” BBQ & Blueberry Limoncello Pavlova

PAVLOVA
Blueberry, Lemon Curd with Limoncello, Greek Yogurt

Gidday Mates! This past weekend we celebrated our friend Chip’s birthday, as well as my new BBQ grill with a “Down Under” Party. The idea started with “shrimp on the barbie” and grew from there with Australian wines, beers, and ports, grilled lamb steaks, grilled corn, grilled bread, salads, cheeses, and more. And of course there had to be the quintessential dessert, Australia’s beloved Pavlova. And being us, we had to put booze in the pavlova. Limoncello to be exact. We do love our themed dinner parties.

In this simple but beautiful blueberry limoncello pavlova, the sweet meringue dissolves on the tongue, the lively lemon curd spiked with limoncello adds a surprisingly zippy note which is balanced by the tart yogurt and the heavenly fresh blueberries that pop in the mouth. Could it have been too elegant for our outback party?

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